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The ICEM German affiliate, IGBCE, accomplished substantive commitments for youth apprenticeship positions inside an 11-month national labour agreement with the chemical employers&rsquo; association, the BAVC. Those commitments will carry over for the next three years, and will mean another 27,000 young people will have career opportunities in Germany&rsquo;s keystone chemicals industry through apprenticeships. 
 
The 11-month length of the contract is a concession to chemical employers, with hopes that all 1,900 enterprises will regain solid financial footing before the IGBCE and BAVC resume bargaining for wage increases early in 2011. A wage freeze takes effect now for 550,000 workers, with ratification bonuses awarded instead. 

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IGBCE President Michael Vassiliadis
&ldquo;It is a good conclusion&rdquo; for the present, stated IGBCE President Michael Vassiliadis. &ldquo;It is fair considering the varying conditions in the industry and it helps build a bridge between the economic crisis and recovery.&rdquo; 
 
Foremost in the new accord is a social-partners commitment for life-long job opportunities for young people, which includes &euro;25 million in money provided by companies of the industry. The employers agreed to create 1,000 permanent jobs for young people in each of three years, with the fund used to subsidize companies at &euro;1,000 per month for each worker given a permanent position. 
 
The IGBCE negotiated the requirement that subsidies can only be given for workers that are IGBCE members. 
 
The ratification bonuses, to be included in workers&rsquo; salary pay checks this month, amount to &euro;550 for day-shift workers, &euro;611 for workers on five- or six-day swing shifts, and &euro;715 for night-shift and workers required to work across seven days per week. 

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Workers in enterprises that have not suffered due to the economic crisis will receive a further &euro;200 bonus on top of their stipends. For enterprises still facing difficulties, and with the consent of the respective European Works Councils, the overall bonus can be reduced, but not below &euro;300. 
 
Peter Hausmann, IGBCE Governing Board member, who heads the union&rsquo;s Collective Bargaining Department, said the new collective agreement reflects a stronger set of initiatives created by social partners for the industry. We have created &ldquo;new perspectives created for young people,&rdquo; as well as better job security provisions for existing workers, said Hausmann. 
 
The agreement was reached on 21 April in W&uuml;rzburg, following two days of national talks.

Youth Job Guarantees Won by IGBCE in German Chemicals Agreement

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Grupo M&eacute;xico&rsquo;s sustained attack on the National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM), or Los Mineros, was set back on 23 April, when a criminal court in the Federal District of Mexico dismissed a criminal complaint filed against Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez Urrutia, the union&rsquo;s general secretary. 
 
The company&rsquo;s court case had accused the Los Mineros head of guilt in regard to financial irregularities during the creation and then dissolution of a workers&rsquo; trust. With Grupo M&eacute;xico alleging that $US 55 million had been embezzled by Los Mineros leadership, the court found this to be not true, with no evidence of any crime committed by the union. 

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Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez
The ICEM has repeatedly reported on Grupo M&eacute;xico&rsquo;s attempts to block the rights of its workers to organise and bargain collectively. As general secretary, Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez Urrutia is forced to operate the union remotely from exile in Canada, and the 23 April decision in Court Number 32 acquits him of the only valid arrest warrant against him. 
 
The court decision needs ratification from the criminal division of the country&rsquo;s High Court of Justice, where the Attorney General will appeal. However, the ruling does have &ldquo;Res judicata,&rdquo; meaning that the decision is final and the defendant cannot be tried twice under the same charges. 
 
Since 2006, when the first criminal charges were made against him, the authorities together with Grupo M&eacute;xico have sustained judicial pressure through numerous cases and intricate legal disputes. 

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The ICEM is attending the 36th Congress of Los Mineros, starting today, Monday, 3 May in Mexico. One issue high on the agenda is the struggle of workers at the Cananea mine in Sonora State, where some 1,200 workers have been on strike since July 2007. As reported, Grupo M&eacute;xico has again teamed with the Mexican government to seek to end the strike, while the picket line has held firm. The Mexican Supreme Court recently backed Grupo M&eacute;xico&rsquo;s decision to close the mine. 
 
Los Mineros activists have refused to allow Cananea to be handed over to the company, and responded to the Supreme Court decision with a promise to destroy the mine if the authorities attempt to take it by force. &ldquo;We plan to burn it, if they attempt to force us out,&rdquo; stated Los Mineros spokesman Sergio Bultran. 
 
The ICEM, and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), participated in a demonstration outside the headquarters of Grupo M&eacute;xico in Mexico City on 23 April following a regional meeting of the IMF. The demonstration by some 300 mineworkers and others called on the company to come to the bargaining table to negotiate, and to resolve strikes at Sections 65, 201, and 17 of SNTMMSRM. 

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Demonstrators urged the company and the government not to violently move strikers out of Cananea. IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina was refused the right to deliver a letter to company Chairman and CEO German Larrea, or to any company official. The letter reiterating the support for joint ICEM/IMF affiliate Los Mineros, and the call for justice was finally delivered to a security guard at the front door. 
 
Raina criticised the company for refusing to meet. &ldquo;We are looking to Mr. Larrea, but they tell us they do not have time. Is it because they are counting their pesos or dollars?&rdquo;

Acquittal for Los Mineros General Secretary Napoleón Gómez

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The page was visibly turned in Turkey on 1 May as 150,000 workers marched from three directions into Taksim Square in Istanbul, marking the first time in 33 years that the historic square was officially open for Workers&rsquo; Day. May Day was officially designated as a workers&rsquo; holiday by Turkey&rsquo;s government in 2009, and with it came reopening of the symbol that marks Turkish worker rights &ndash; Taksim Square. 
 
It was on &ldquo;Bloody May 1&rdquo; of 1977 that 37 workers were killed celebrating May Day in Taksim and a few years later, the military banned demonstrations inside Taksim. Only two years ago, in 2008, small groups of trade union leaders attempted to assemble there. They were met by tear gas and police force. Over 500 were arrested. 

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Photo: Mac Urata/ITF
This year was different. On Saturday, a festive mood prevailed, with many speakers remembering the fallen of 33 years ago. 
Mustafa Kumlu, President of the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (T&Uuml;RK-İŞ), President of the Turkish Electricity, Water, and Gas Workers&rsquo; Union (Tes-İş), and an ICEM Executive Committee member, spoke: &ldquo;We remember the friends we lost from the depths of our hearts. We rejoice in the fact that Taksim Square has been opened, and we thank our friends who struggled for this cause.&rdquo; 
 
A day before the celebration, the global unions came together in Istanbul to discuss the current state of trade union rights inside Turkey and to share experiences. According to ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan, the meeting is certain to increase coordination for Turkish trade unions by global union federations. 

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Photo: Mac Urata/ITF 
&ldquo;The global unions explained their strategies for boosting solidarity, while their Turkish trade union affiliates put forward their successful campaigns through the support of the international organizations,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The end result will be more joint activities, more joint campaigns, with the struggle for full workers&rsquo; rights in Turkey defined as a priority by the global union movement. 
 
Participating in the day-long meeting, besides the ICEM, were the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). Education International (EI), International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF), International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF), the International Union of Food and Allied Workers&rsquo; Association (IUF), Public Services International (PSI), and Union Network International (UNI).

Istanbul’s Taksim Square Reopens on May Day; Global Union Conference Held

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Four members of the Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU) will travel from Australia to Zug, Switzerland, this week to make their voices heard before shareholders of Xstrata, the global mining company with a dual base in Zug and London. The CFMEU, to be assisted by the ICEM, will be at Xstrata&rsquo;s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 5 May. 
 
CFMEU will contrast the 41% pay increase given to CEO Mick Davis with the aggressive demands made on coal miners in the profitable collieries of New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland. Davis saw his annual salary jump in 2009 to US$7.75 million from US$5.5 million in 2008. 
 
At the Tahmoor colliery in New South Wales, Xstrata used a week-long lockout in February in efforts to force mineworkers to take unfair concessions. Some 300 miners there have been without a collective enterprise agreement for nearly 14 months. Miners are preparing to take further industrial action by mid-May if conciliation efforts by Fair Work Australia do not succeed. 

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The union has also protested against unfair staff cuts at the Ulan and Bulga mines in New South Wales. At Bulga, a three-year enterprise agreement between CFMEU and Xstrata did come into effect this spring, but not without protests and resistance to the company&rsquo;s attempt to rollback language that was consistent with former Prime Minister John Howard&rsquo;s draconian WorkChoices laws. 
 
Xstrata also has tried to weaken working conditions at its Newlands, Oaky Creek, Rolleston, and Togaro North coal mine in Queensland. In NSW, the CFMEU is also resisting Xstrata and its attempt to return to Howard&rsquo;s individual work agreements at the Liddell and Glendell mines. 
 
CFMEU Mining and Energy Vice President Wayne McAndrew said Xstrata&rsquo;s coal mining operations in Australia are some of the company&rsquo;s most profitable worldwide. &ldquo;Yet one quarter of Xstrata&rsquo;s Australian coal mining operations currently face industrial disputes or unrest because of the company&rsquo;s anti-worker stance.&rdquo; 
 
McAndrew, who will be accompanied to Zug by Tahmoor miner Lee Webb, Newslands miner Ben Davison, and CFMEU Northern NSW District President Grahame Kelly, added, &ldquo;Xstrata is a company that is engaging in activities that are harming the future profits of the company and this has the potential to affect its overseas mergers and acquisitions.&rdquo;

CFMEU to Take Australia Coal Dispute to Xstrata’s AGM

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The ICEM this week will be on-site to investigate freedom of association and trade union violations in Georgia on behalf of the ICEM affiliate, the Metallurgical,&nbsp;Mining, and Chemical&nbsp;Industry Workers&rsquo; Trade Union of the Central Asian country. The union and its national labour centre, the Georgian Trade Union Confederation (GTUC), are in a serious confrontation with managers at Zestafoni Ferroalloys Plant and the Georgian Manganese mines in nearby Chiatura. 
 
A representative&nbsp;majority of the 6,000 workers at the Chiatura mines and&nbsp;ferroalloy smelter in the western Georgian city of Zestafoni staged a three-day&nbsp;strike from 23-25 April. Their demands are for recognition of the free and democratic Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical&nbsp;Industry Workers&rsquo; Trade Union of Imereti Region, a branch of the Tbilisi-based union, and a halt to horrid working conditions and blatant management harassment and intimidation of scores of trade union members. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan will meet with union leaders on 5 May to get a listing of a multitude of work rights infractions and intervention with the parent company and Georgian government likely will follow. A majority of the stock ownership of both enterprises is held by privately-held, London-based Stemcor Holdings, a global steel-producing, marketing, and distribution firm that has its roots in the Oppenheimer family of businesses. 
 
Managers at Zestafoni Ferroalloys refused to renew labour agreements after 31 March, in part because the union has won the allegiance of an overwhelming number of miners at Georgian Manganese in Chiatura, who seek to replace a company-dominated &ldquo;yellow&rdquo; union. The Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical&nbsp;Union was democratically established at the set of eight open cast and underground mines in October 2009. 

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Workers' strike, 23-25 April
In the days leading up to the warning strike, off-site meetings between smelting-plant workers and miners in both Zestaponi and Chiatura were watched over by managers, with photos taken and threats of violence made against those attending. At one meeting, attended by Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical&nbsp;Union President Tamaz Dolaberidze and leaders of the GTUC, the company&rsquo;s security director attempted to provoke a melee by grabbing a union activist outside the meeting hall. 
 
And at the Itkhvisi mine, manager Nugzar Jokhadze physically attacked Merab Yakobidze, one of nine strike committee leaders. Despite these blatant and cowardly acts, the involvement of workers and miners has steadily increased as the dispute escalates. 
 
The Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical&nbsp;Industry Workers&rsquo; Trade Union of Imereti Region demands immediate recognition, resumption of meaningful bargaining, and permanent work contracts. Strike committee Chairman Goga Bregvadze said the union&rsquo;s demands also include improvements to occupational safety and health equipment and updating of medical facilities; transparent rules on hours of work, days off, public holidays; protective clothing and boots; and sanitary break areas and safe food to eat. 
 
The Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical&nbsp;Union demands a sizeable salary increase, and establishment of a minimum salary at the mining complex. The union also demands reinstatement and back compensation for two union activists, Giorgi Giorgidze and Shakro Bregvadze, who were sacked for their trade union activities. 
 
Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical&nbsp;Industry Workers&rsquo; Trade Union of Georgia, together with the GTUC, is prepared to launch further and extended strike actions if these demands are not met. Such a strike would receive global labour support. 
 
The GTUC has filed a complaint with the ILO Committee of Freedom of Association over the blatant violations at the Zestafoni Ferroalloys Plant and the Georgian Manganese mines, a petition supported by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). 
 
The ICEM will join the fight for the legitimate workplace rights of staff at these two combined enterprises. Before departing for Georgia early today, Warda contacted International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) General Secretary Jyrki Raina to inform him of the situation. Raina extended the full support and solidarity of the IMF to the Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical&nbsp;Industry Workers&rsquo; Trade Union.

Miners, Metalworkers Not Intimidated by Georgian Manganese Managers

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A week-long blockade by several hundred contract workers at Chile&rsquo;s third largest copper mine ended 12 May, but issues remain unresolved. The blockade, takeover of equipment and operations, and reported kidnappings of direct employees at the Collahuasi mine in northern Region I ended only when Special Forces of the Chilean police arrived to break up the strike. 
 
The contract workers then took the strike 180 kilometres to the west to the town of Iquique. Negotiations to resolve the dispute had been ongoing with the Tarapac&aacute; governor, and reports circulate that talks would again start today. Collahuasi, which is 44% owned by Xstrata, 44% by AngloAmerican, with the rest held by Japanese investors connected to Mitsui &amp; Co., declared force majeure on 10 May. 

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The mining enterprise said it suspended production then because of the on-site takeover, but began operating again on 12 May. Collahuasi employs 2,000 direct employees, while another 4,000 work for some scores of sub-contractors. 
 
Collahuasi is currently in the first phase of a US$750 million expansion and reports linked the contract workers to a Chilean engineering firm involved in that expansion. Their strike and blockade is over demands that include on-site housing similar to that of direct-employed staff, and bonuses for successfully concluding wage negotiations in April. 
 
The strike and blockade began 7 May. Copper prices on the London Metals Market rose slightly due to the shutdown. The Collahusi mine provides 3.3% of the world&rsquo;s copper supply, with 2009 production at 535,000 tonnes of processed copper. The expansion, due to be complete by 2015, will boost that production figure to 600,000 tonnes.

Contract Workers’ Strike Flares at Chile’s Collahuasi Copper Mine

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Iranian authorities experienced a wide backlash of anger from throughout the world, following their decision to secretly execute teacher and trade unionist Farzad Kamangar on 9 May. 
 
Farzad Kamangar was hanged at Evin Prison in Tehran, along with three other Kurds and one other man, without their families or legal representatives being told beforehand. The draconian executions followed a legal process which failed to meet any semblance of accepted international standards, or even Iranian standards of fair trials. 
 
The ICEM has long been involved in the campaign against repression and violations of human rights in Iran, including the illegal arrests of other trade unionists. Increased solidarity and support is now needed for those who are illegally imprisoned, with fears spreading that their fates might meet the same as Farzad Kamangar&rsquo;s. 

<img alt="" src="" width="240" height="159" />
Photo: Mac Urata (ITF)
The Global Union Federation for teachers and educators, Education International (EI), has been fighting Farzad Kamangar&rsquo;s case since his arrest in May 2006. He was given the death sentence in February 2008, following a trial lasting less than five minutes. The 35-year-old member of the Teachers&rsquo; Union of Kurdistan, was accused of &quot;endangering national security&quot; and &ldquo;moharebeh&rdquo; or &quot;enmity against God.&quot; 
 
Farzad Kamangar was held for seven months prior to being allowed to see his family. He was repeatedly tortured. He was whipped, held in a freezing room and physically abused by guards. He was not given the chance to say goodbye to his family. 
 
The news comes one month before the 26 June, the Day of Action against the Islamic Republic of Iran for the repressive and tyrannical means it uses to suppress its people. (View that campaign website <a href="http://www.justiceforiranianworkers.org ">here</a>.) 
 
Protests were carried out in several countries, following the executions. See the Turkey march <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lki_FBw68_s&amp;feature=related">here</a>. See all photos of the London rally <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/workers_in_action/sets/72157623937198125/detail/ ">here</a> (photos by Mac Urata)

World Appalled at Execution of Iranian Trade Unionist

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With the ashes from the global financial crisis still about us, the ICEM has joined with the 11 other Global Union Federations (GUFs), as well as the International Trade Union Confederation and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD in issuing a joint 1 May statement. That statement follows below. 
May Day 2010 
Jobs, Justice and Public Services &ndash; Getting the Economy to Work 
The Council of Global Unions, the voice of the global labour movement, has issued the following statement to mark May 1, 2010 
 
On today of all days, trade unionists around the world demand fresh steps to reform the global economy in favour of social justice, investment in jobs and fairness in society. This is no time for business as usual. 
 
Neo-liberal economists and reckless financial dealings have created a crisis that has put millions of people out of work and forced many more into precarious employment to survive. Social safety nets are being torn apart. Public spending that provides for cohesive communities is being savagely cut. 
 
With all of this in mind, Global Unions call on policymakers and democrats everywhere to support a new paradigm of recovery and social justice that will: 
 
&bull; Reassert in government at all levels the primacy of public interest over private gain and ensure that the protection of citizens&rsquo; rights is made a cornerstone of social and economic development; 
 
&bull; Defend the rights of workers and trade unions; 
 
&bull; Mobilise for the creation of sustainable, secure and good quality jobs for all workers, that allow workers and their families to live in dignity; 
 
&bull; Ensure that social justice is a central mission of government and take concrete measures to reduce income disparities and increase equality, in particular gender equality; 
 
&bull; Eliminate market abuse through short-term speculation and manipulation of financial markets by imposing binding and effective regulation; 
 
&bull; Promote sustainable development with job-centred policies, effective social protections and reversal of global warming and environmental degradation; 
 
&bull; Renew commitment to public service values in society and enhance the contribution of quality public services to fairer and more efficient societies, and to finance these services through progressive systems of taxation that provide sufficient resources while improving social equity; 
 
&bull; Commit to education for all and provide resources needed to achieve the enrichment of society that comes from high quality education and training; 
 
&bull; Improve the quality of people&rsquo;s lives by providing universal access to health care and other vital social welfare services, as well as such fundamental issues as clean water and adequate nutrition, and breathing new life into efforts to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals. 
 
May Day 2010 is a moment to change course, to meet the aspirations of workers and communities for a new beginning, to put to flight self-serving politics and corporate greed, and, above all, to build a new solidarity in society in support of people-centred values that will enrich the lives of all. 
 
 
The PDF of the statement can be found <a href="http://www.world-psi.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&amp;CONTENTFILEID=29028&amp;TEMPLATE=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm">here</a>.

Global Labour’s Joint 1 May Statement

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A relentless, two-year campaign by ICEM US affiliate, the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA), against Covanta gave 140 workers in the state of Massachusetts their first labour agreement last week. The collective agreement, actually two contracts with one giving workers huge retroactive backpay and bonus awards, punctuates a capitulation by the American waste-to-energy company in resisting full workers&rsquo; rights following a successful organizing drive. 
 
That recruitment drive by UWUA Local 369 at an incinerator in Rochester, Massachusetts, that burns solid waste for conversion to electricity occurred in May 2008. Following the union vote, conducted by the US labour board, Covanta did what so many American companies do following union certification; engage in &ldquo;surface bargaining,&rdquo; never intending to reach a first labour agreement, and they punish workers for voting union by withholding scheduled pay gains.
<img alt="" src="" width="216" height="160" />
Under US labour statute, after a one-year period has elapsed from the certification vote, workers have an option to de-authorise the union as bargaining representative. 
 
But at Covanta in Massachusetts, the UWUA would have none of it. The Washington, DC-based union began an unyielding campaign that blocked the publicly-traded Covanta from expanding its waste-to-energy business into Canada, Ireland, the UK, and the Netherlands. That meant engaging trade unions, civic organizations, and environmental groups as Covanta sought to gain municipal contracts to collect trash and the necessary permits to built incinerations in those countries in order to sell power to electric grids. 
 
UWUA impeded Covanta both at home and abroad by highlighting the company&rsquo;s negligent health and safety ledger, its environmental record, and its appalling labour relations conduct, which included serious and malicious breaches of US labour law (see earlier ICEM dispatches <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3694-UWUA-Wins-US$1-Million-Judgment-for-Covanta-Workers-">here</a>, <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3532-US-Labour-Board-Issues-Stern-Injunctive-Relief-against-Covanta">here</a>, and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3039-Covanta-Energy-Violates-US-Labour-Law">here</a>).&nbsp; 
 
The end result was a three-year collective agreement, plus a separate contract granting workers sizeable backpay and bonus payments that had been withheld. Local 369 members at Covanta&rsquo;s SEMASS facility voted to accept the pair of agreements by a wide margin on 22 April. The pay and other gains are exceptional, and the working agreement now in place contains the best features of US union contracts. 
 
The backdated bonus and pay accord gives the 140 workers a retroactive wage increase of 3% to early 2009; an incentive bonus of 8.1% of total wages for 2008; an annual wage increases backdated to 1 January 2010 of 2.7%; and a further missed incentive bonus of 4.85% of total wages for 2009. Added up, these retroactive gains average US$17,000 per worker. 
 
And on top of that, comes the three-year pay, bonus, and other union protection items took effect 14 April 2010. That includes a 2.8% increase each year, a ratification bonus of US$1,250 per worker, additional incentive bonuses of up to 7% in each year of the contract, as well as new safety and health protections, including a medical surveillance programme to monitor workers&rsquo; blood levels from handling hazardous materials, and limits on sub-contracting.
<img alt="" src="" width="200" height="133" />
UWUA President D. Michael Langford&nbsp;
The ICEM considers UWUA&rsquo;s campaign and the end result of the Local 369-Covanta contract exemplary and an inspiring example inside America on how best to fight a recalcitrant employer attempting to deny its employees their lawful rights. In congratulating UWUA President D. Michael Langford, General Secretary Manfred Warda termed the initial labour agreement an excellent one that &ldquo;all UWUA members &ndash; in fact, all union members in America &ndash; can be justly proud of.&rdquo; (See the full letter <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/33%20Letter%20to%20UWUA%20Presiden%20-%20Michael%20Langford.pdf">here</a>.) 
 
In a joint release issued by UWUA Local 369 and Covanta, Local 369 President Gary Sullivan stated, &ldquo;Our UWUA Bargaining Committee has done an outstanding job pressing for a fair and just contract. We are hopeful this is the first step to a productive relationship with Covanta.&rdquo;

US Affiliate UWUA Achieves Exceptional First Contract with Covanta

The Executive Committee of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) Federation, meeting today 26 May in Geneva, passed three key resolutions. Firstly, the Executive drew sharp attention on the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and its role to improve safety conditions in the world&rsquo;s mines. 
 
The ICEM also passed resolutions reiterating its strong support to the United Steelworkers in Canada in its 11-month strike against Brazilian-based Vale, and support to the National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM), also known as Los Mineros, in its lengthy struggle against Grupo Mexico and the government of Mexico. 
 
The adopted statement on mine safety called on the ILO to do more to press member states to ratify Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. Recent mining tragedies in Turkey and Russia served as a backdrop for the Executive issuing strong rhetoric for immediate action by the ILO. 
 
&ldquo;Our statutory body strongly feels that the ILO must become more pro-active in investigating causes of safety negligence, and insist on a greater trade union role in promoting safe work conditions,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. 
 
In Turkey, the ICEM endorsed today&rsquo;s three one-hour work stoppages by 10,000 miners, strikes that were led by ICEM affiliate Genel Maden-Is. The strikes across the coal-mining region of Zonguldak follow the deadly 17 May methane explosion in the Karadon mine, which killed 30 non-union and short-term contract workers. The strikes were meant as a message to the Turkish government, demanding safe work conditions inside mines, as well as ratification of Convention 176.
The ICEM Executive also condemned faulty pay schemes in mining in several countries, including Russia where monthly salaries are kept extremely low, with miners expected to achieve high production quotas to supplement their pay. This likely was the case at the Raspadskaya mine in the Kemerovo region, where 90 workers died due to methane gas explosions in early May. 
 
The safety statement also addressed a rash of accidents in both the upstream and downstream oil and gas industries, including a refinery explosion in the US state of Washington that killed seven and the Gulf of Mexico disaster. &ldquo;While much is made of the environmental destruction along the United States Gulf coast brought about by the oil rig explosion, which indeed merits attention, little is made of the fact that 11 offshore workers died and 15 others were seriously injured,&rdquo; read the statement. See full resolution <a href="/index.php?id=97&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=3794">here</a>. 
 
The resolution regarding the USW strike at three locations of Vale in Canada called attention to the company&rsquo;s ongoing aversion to negotiate in good faith with the union. The global campaign for justice at Vale, by the ICEM, the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), and affiliates from around the world has improved conditions for workers, said the resolution. See full document <a href="/index.php?id=5&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=3796">here</a>. 
 
The third resolution, on Los Mineros&rsquo; struggle against Grupo Mexico and the government of Felipe Calderon, condemns the recent brutal and unprovoked attacks by the Mexican Federal Police on members of the union. The attack is seen as a direct attack on the autonomy of Los Mineros. Police fired on, detained, and physically attacked the workers in the city of L&aacute;zaro C&aacute;rdenas, Michoac&aacute;n. Among those attacked was Mario Garc&iacute;a Ort&iacute;z, Los Mineros&rsquo; special delegate for the State of Michoac&aacute;n, also the Alternative General Secretary of the union and President of the recent Convention of the union. 
 
The ICEM statement calls on the Mexican government to acknowledge the result of the democratic election of the Los Mineros Congress, in which Napoleon Gomez Urrutia was elected. See the full document <a href="/index.php?id=5&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=3795">here</a>. 
 
The ICEM is a Global Union Federation consisting of 467 trade unions in 132 countries, representing in total 20 million workers. 
 
For further information, contact ICEM Information Officer, Dick Blin, <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, or +41 79 734 8994 (mobile), or Tom Grinter, ICEM Communications and Campaigns, <a href="mailto:tom.grinter@icem.org">tom.grinter@icem.org</a>, +41 79 693 4499 (mobile).

ICEM Executive Demands ILO Action on Mine Safety, Justice in Canada and Mexico

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